UH-1 Huey

The Oregon Military Department (OMD) put a bid out to build a display pad for a UH-1 Huey helicopter and Jackson Commercial Construction hired us to lift the helicopter and install it on the pad. We were also asked to immobilize the main rotor in a non-permanent way to be reviewed and approved by the OMD.

We arrived for a Pre-move meeting Monday morning. All previous planning and discussions had been done by phone. We inspected the airframe, the transport route and the display site prior to move and prepped the airframe for the move.

Client:

Army Aviation Support Facility
Oregon Military Department (OMD)
Salem, Oregon

Tuesday morning OMD towed the Huey close to the site where the crane set up and lifted the helicopter onto a trailer. The trailer was then towed to the display pad. The helicopter was lifted off of the trailer and swung over to the display stand with tag lines attached to control the swing of the airframe. It was oriented in a nose down attitude approximating the display attitude and lowered onto the display stand. We then installed four of the hold down clamps that are forward of the landing skid legs to prevent the airframe from sliding down the angled display platform. Once the airframe was secure, the remaining clamps were installed and the crane was disconnected.

The next step was to secure the main rotor in the designed display attitude. We secured the rotor rotation by using the engine to rotor mast/transmission coupling bolts and a mechanical link to the transmission mounting bolts. We additionally used the transmission-to-tail rotor shaft coupling bolts as a secondary securing system.

To prevent the main rotors from flapping in the wind we used cables and blocking. This process was all limited to an area within the rotor head/transmission area. All of the installations were of a type that can be reversed and will not impact the airframe structurally.

With the rotor secure we closed up all panels and removed any rigging and any material that was used for the installation. We met with the contractor, customer and customer representatives for review and final approval.